Google Voice for iPhone ‘rejected’, says Google

The Google Voice application for iPhone has been rejected by Apple, says Google. The reason invoked by Apple is that Google Voice duplicates the dialer function included in the iPhone and replaced a “native function”, which is grounds for a rejection. The rejection would have occurred in July during a phone conversation with top executives (Apple’s Phil Schiller and Google’s Alan Eustace) from both companies. Apple has previously said that Google Voice was technically still being reviewed, but in a letter to the FCC, Google clearly said that it had been rejected.

Google Voice is an application that creates a virtual number that can then be redirected to one or several physical numbers. It is possible to port an existing number to Google Voice. Some say that AT&T would be threatened by a massive move to Google Voice and that Apple is trying to protect its partner. Both Apple and AT&T deny that this is the case.

Update: Apple has replied to Google’s statement: “We do not agree with all of the statements made by Google in their FCC letter. Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application and we continue to discuss it with Google.” Google has posted this on their blog today: “We continue to work with Apple and others to bring users the best mobile Google experience possible”.